


Memeto Mori

by Lea_Wong



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: English is my second language, F/M, I actually liked the first movie, I changed up a few story plots, M/M, Spelling & Grammar, Twilight References, so the general plot makes sense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25355083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lea_Wong/pseuds/Lea_Wong
Summary: March 2008, Benjamin and Isabella Swan started a new beginning in Forks, Washington. The Swan twin's ordinary life suffered unbelievable changes during their stay.The Cullens, the Quileute tribe, mysterious animal attacks and possible love interests.How would they adapt to the unfamiliar environment? Could they solve the unbreakable hatred between the two rival clans? Could they hold their ground against the upcoming challenges?Emmett Cullen x Original Male CharacterSlow UpdateI do not own the Twilight Saga.
Relationships: Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Emmett Cullen/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	1. One

The seemingly everlasting heat surrounded Benjamin as he looked toward the horizon, hands in his shorts' pockets. His eyes skimmed through everything on the desert. Cactuses, lizards, rattlesnakes, sages, and their home.

"Hey, Benji," hearing his nickname, Benjamin turned, and standing in front of him, was his twin sister, Isabella Marie Swan, but she liked to be called 'Bella', "Would you miss here?"

She held a small pot of cactus in her hand, looking like her usual self. But Benjamin noticed the strain of her shoulders and the unsteadiness of her voice, she didn't want to leave Phoenix, which was understandable. She hadn't left her home for a long time.

Benjamin closed his eyes and inhaled, processing the question while taking in the dry and barren smell of the desert, he sighed, "No, I don't think I will."

The girl knowingly smiled and said, "Well, you never liked the heat."

"Damn right."

She'd been noticing the little things that her brother would do when he was happy. He talked to their mother and her husband Phil more, woke up earlier than usual, wore his lucky flannel shirt twice a week. Most importantly, he often smiled unconsciously when he was alone. All of these was because they were going to stay at their dad's.

"Speaking of heat, can we go inside? I feel like my skin's been burnt." Without receiving an answer, Benjamin put his arm on Bella's shoulders and leaded her home.

Benjamin had been excited to go back to his dad's place for weeks now. He went to Forks, Washington every summer to keep his dad company while Bella stayed in Arizona. For some reason, he was attached to their dad, Charlie, more than he was to Renee, and his twin sister was the opposite.

He once asked Bella why she never wanted to go to Washington, and she gave the lamest answer anyone could possibly think of: 'I don't really like the rain'. Bella then asked Benjamin why he liked Forks so much that he had to go there every summer, and the response was: 'I just really love the rain'. The awkward tension between them a second ago suddenly was replaced with an eye roll and teasing laughter.

Benjamin knew Bella had been hiding her true feeling about their father from him, and she obviously didn't want to talk about it, so the topic was never raised again.

But now, they would be taking a flight to Washington on Monday, and Benjamin silently wish to himself that time could slip away sooner.

In the cruise, Bella rode shotgun while Benjamin sat in the back. Charlie Swan had been asking about their life in Arizona, Bella provided short answers and Benjamin would elaborate and tell Charlie the entire story.

Let's just say the twins work together well.

''Your hair's long." Charlie said after he took another glance at his daughter.

"I cut it since the last time I saw you."

Benjamin raised his eyebrows and thought to himself, _That must've been the longest sentence Bella has said in the car._

"Guess it grew out again." Charlie responded, and then, the chattering seized to a stop.

The father and the boy locked eyes in the rear-view mirror, and Benjamin only shrugged as a response to Bella's unenthusiastic behaviors.

Benjamin knew it would be hard for Charlie and Bella to have the father-daughter connection again since the two were terrible at opening themselves to others. It was like watching a meteor strike, you know if it lands, there will be casualties and damages; however, you can do nothing but let it happen.

Looking out the window, Benjamin smiled when he saw the familiar sign beside the road.

'WELCOME TO FORKS'

The boy whispered, ''Welcomed to be back."

Under a constant cloud of rain and humid, surrounded by a vast area of forests free from cultivation, there sits Forks, Washington. Population: three-thousand one-hundred and twenty people. Well, three-thousand one-hundred and twenty-two people now, plus the two new Swans.

Charlie pulled in to his usual parking space and helped carry the kids' luggage into their individual room. Benjamin didn't bring much stuff with him, so it only took him a few minutes to tidy up his space. He walked to his sister's room, only to see her sitting on her bed, depressed and nostalgic. He stood next to the study desk and tilted his head slightly, "Dad must've cleaned your room. Last time I was here, this room was covered in a blanket of dust."

"That's nice." Bella said, standing up and placing the cactus on the desk.

The boy sighed, "You know he's trying, right?"

"Yeah," the girl crossed her arms over her chest, "just takes time to warm up to him."

Benjamin patted his sister's head softly, seeing a faint smile flickered across her lips.

"Alright, I'll let you unpack your stuff in peace. Be downstairs."


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Everyone!
> 
> Jacob was a werewolf from the start of this story. So there won't be a sudden disappearance and if-Sam's-running-a-cult story line. 
> 
> And he looked goofy in the wig, so I kept his long hair.

Benjamin was sitting on the kitchen island when two trucks pulled up in front of the Swan residence, one orange and one navy. Although he had never seen the former, he was quite familiar with the latter.

"Oh, they're here," Charlie went to meet the expected guests and the boy followed him, "Bella, come down!"

The Swan boy walked off the porch with glee, stepping in a puddle of rain water, causing his boot to be covered in mud. But a dirtied boot was the last thing on Benjamin's mind.

"Ben, how are you doing?" a man on a wheelchair hollered brightly, extending his right hand. He was smiling so wide that every wrinkle on his face was apparent.

"Couldn't be better, Billy." Benjamin mirrored the man's smile and shook his hand. Even though the man had been through some rough days as a county sheriff in the past, earning him several battle scars and losing the function of his legs, he still had a strong grip, and the boy couldn't help but admire him once more.

He looked to his right and saw a long haired boy watching them interact with a lopsided smirk, ''Hey, Jakey. It's been a long time."

"Benji, nice to see you again."

The two boys hugged and laughed, Benjamin could smell the faint aroma of the forest in Jacob's messy hair, feel the heat waving through his body and muscle, "Dude, have you been working out? You're buffed as hell."

Jacob chuckled and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Something like that."

Just as this moment, hearing the house front door open, all the men turned toward the origin of the sound. Charlie asked, "Bella, you remember Billy Black?"

"Yeah," the girl walked up to Billy and shook his hand also, "wow, you're looking good." Benjamin could see the genuine happiness on his sister's face, seemed like recognizing one or two familiar faces cheered her up a little.

"Still dancing. I'm glad you two are finally here," Billy said and teased, "Charlie here hasn't shut up about it since you told him you were coming." The dad sighed embarrassingly and countered, "Alright, keep exaggerating. I'll roll you into the mud."

"After I ram you in the ankles!"

"You wanna go?"

"Yeah!"

"Bring it!"

Bella snickered slightly while Benjamin and Jacob laughed at the scene wholeheartedly.

Jacob seized the chance to introduce himself to the Swan girl, "Hi, I'm Jacob, we used to make mud pie together when we were little."

Before Bella stopped coming to Forks when she was little, the twins and the Quileute kid had been great friends. They would often go to the local beach and stayed at each other's place for sleepovers. Benjamin smiled softly at the tender memory.

Bella nodded, "Yeah, I remember."

After a moment of silence between the two teen, Benjamin blinked and asked a question that had been bugging him and brought all the attention back to the important subject at hand, "Hey, what's with the orange truck?"

"Nice truck!" Someone yelled out as Bella drove in the school parking lot, Benjamin hopped off the said truck and hollered back, "Thanks!"

The Swan twins walked shoulder to shoulder in the school lobby, looking down at their class schedules and the school maps, the girl tilted her head to her brother's slightly and whispered, "Benji, we shouldn't draw attention to us like that."

The boy chuckled without looking away from the documents in his hand, "Bella, we transferred into this school in the middle of the semester, we are the chief of police's kids, and we are twins. Plus, this town only has three thousand people, and words travel fast. I bet most of the students know who we are."

A second later, a boy suddenly appeared beside Bella, "You're Benjamin and Isabella Swan, the new twins," they slowed their pace down to avoid bumping into another student, "Hi, I'm Eric, the eyes and ears of this place."

Eric had black hair down to his shoulder and covered up his ears and cheeks, wearing a deep purple button-up shirt and black jeans. Benjamin took a liking to this guy in an instant because of his nice and clean looks.

"Um... Anything you need, tour guide, lunch date, shoulder to cry on?" Eric glanced at Bella and raised his eyebrows.

The girl furrowed hers and shook her head slightly, Benjamin noticed her uncomfortable stance and answered, "We're really kind of a more suffer-in-silence type."

Eric stumbled on the reply and then exclaimed brightly, "That's a good headline for your feature. I'm on the paper, and you're the news, baby. Front page."

"No, I'm not..." Bella stopped dead and wide-eyed with surprise, "You...please don't have any sort of ─"

"Woah, chillax," Eric said, putting up a hand in a comforting gesture, and Benjamin raised his eyebrows at the never-heard-before expression, "No feature."

"Okay, thanks." Bella exhaled as if something heavy had been lifted off her chest. Her brother snickered at her dramatic behavior.

The twins said goodbye to Eric and hurried to their classes, "That went well, we made a friend on our first hour of school, how about that?" Benjamin said to his sister.

"Yeah, sure."

"Live a little, Bella. I'll see you at lunch."


	3. Three

Stepping into the classroom, noticing a few pairs of eyes staring directly at him, Benjamin quickly adjusted the mess that was his hair, trying to calm the nervousness that was fluttering in his stomach.

Even though Benjamin had been telling his sister to ease up a little, it seemed like he himself couldn't escape the natural human emotion, and having Math as his first class on the first day of school definitely didn't help.

"Ah, Mr. Benjamin Swan. Welcome to my class, I'm Mrs. McCarthy," the teacher immediately recognized him and smiled warmly, "these are your textbooks. You can sit in the last row, beside Mr. Cullen."

Benjamin took the textbooks from Mrs. McCarthy and walked to his assigned seat. He could feel his classmates' gazes following him, hear the sound of his boots making contact with the floor in the otherwise silent room.

Finally, he put the books on the desk, placed his bag on the floor and sat down.

"Alright, class. Let's continue from where we left off..."

Benjamin nipped on his bottom lip as he opened the math textbook. Math was never a forte of the Swans, Benjamin often needed to spend much time on studying the subject to be able to catch up on his peers in Arizona. He knew from this point on, in order to get a good score, the library would be his second home considering how much time he would spend in there.

"Not into Math, are you?" A voice exclaimed.

"No, absolutely not." Benjamin snickered and looked to his right. The boy sitting beside him was the 'Mr. Cullen'. He wore a cream-colored hoodie and white pants. The sleeves were tucked to his elbows, and he had stylish bracelets on both of his wrists. Brunette to almost black hair, pale skin, handsome facial features and blood-red lips. Those lips currently posed as a boyish grin and Benjamin found himself smiling to that softly.

"Then you're in for a treat," Cullen teased, "the pop quizzes are going to destroy you."

The Swan boy groaned, causing the other boy to widen his grin.

"You are one of the twins, right?" Cullen asked, even though he seemed to know the answer.

"You guessed that right." Benjamin sighed, his estimation was right, people did know who they were. It's not a bad thing necessarily, at least they didn't need to introduce themselves to everyone everywhere they went.

"I'm Emmett." The dark haired boy said, and Swan repeated the name in his mind and thought it suited the Cullen. 'Emmett' sounded strong and independent, corresponding to his massive physicality and the welcoming personality he was presenting.

"Benjamin, Benji, Ben. Whichever suits you."

The boys looked at each other in the eye, brown and black, and laughed.

Benjamin turned to study the textbook, _Math won't be so painful if Emmett is here_ , he thought to himself.

During the break, Benjamin stood in front of his locker, preparing for his biology class. Now, Biology had been one of his favorite subjects. He loved seeing the metamorphosis of different cells under the lenses of microscopes. It reminded him that everyone consisted of the same basic cells and DNA, no one was much better than another.

Just as he closed his locker and turned around, he gasped and took a step back in shock, left hand flew to his chest as an attempt to slow his sudden-skyrocketing heartbeat. Emmett somehow had been standing beside him, with an amused expression on his face, ''Surprised to see me?"

''Jesus, how long have you been standing there?"

The Cullen chuckled, "What're you talking about? I've been following you ever since the bell rang."

Benjamin frowned, letting out a big breath in amazement, "Welp, for a big dude, you sure as hell have a good way of hiding your footsteps."

Speaking of 'big', in the Math class, Cullen had been sitting down, so Benjamin did not notice; however, now, Benjamin couldn't help but bewilder at Emmett's towering height. He had got to be at least 6'4. With his unusual build for a seventeen-year-old boy, Benjamin could conceal himself completely by just standing behind the giant.

Benjamin was the average height of 5'7. Although he kept telling himself that he was still growing, his height hadn't increased in two years.

_No amount of milk and meat can make me that way, I bet_ , Benjamin thought.

"What's your next class?" Emmett asked, pulling Benjamin away from his internal monologue.

"Biology with Mr. Molina."

"All right!" Upon hearing the answer, Emmett happily exclaimed, an energized glint in his black eyes, "My siblings are in that class, too. Jasper and Rosalie Hale. You'll like them! I can walk you to the class."

Emmett put his arm on the Swan boy's shoulder and pulled him close, the skin of his forearm made contact with Benjamin's exposed neck, and Benjamin had to restrain himself from flinching away. The Cullen boy's skin was like ice, sending goosebumps down Benjamin's arms.

"Hale?"

'Yeah, Carlisle and Esmé Cullen adopted all of us. Jaz and Rose kept their last name, Hale. They're twins, too, by the way."

"Okay..." Benjamin replied, returning a gentle smile, "Let's hope they like me, too."

The two boys walked down the hallway, all the other students seeming to have stopped whatever they had been doing and turning to stare at the boys.

Benjamin arched his eyebrows, ignoring the questions that his mind was proposing because of the sudden attention.

"Oh, they will, Bambi." Emmett shook Benjamin's shoulder slightly in a reassuring gesture.

"Bambi?" The boy snickered, looking up at the other boy and asked, "Where did that come from?"

"You look like Bambi, you know, that Disney movie." Emmett slyly explained and ruffled Benjamin's thick brown hair.

"Yeah, and you look like Smokey Bear."

"A bear? Ha, I can get over that."


	4. Four

"Hey," Benjamin said after sitting down at an empty seat next to a boy and in front of a girl both with blonde hair and pale skin.

The boy turned his head toward him slightly, his beautiful curvy blond locks swayed a bit with the motion. He nodded in greeting, but didn't make eye contact with Benjamin. The girl lifted the corner of her mouth slightly, locking eyes with the Swan boy. The latter returned a smile of his own.

"You're Emmett's brother, Jasper, right?" Benjamin questioned after a moment of silence between the two, "I just had Math with him." The girl behind him must have been Rosalie.

Jasper nodded again, he had his two hands folded together on the lab table, after taking a glance at Benjamin, he said quietly, "Yeah, I saw you two during the break." The Cullen boy had a hint of smile on his face, the same bloodred lips and wan skin. Benjamin heard a faint country twang in his voice and wondered where Jasper had come from before he was adopted by Carlisle Cullen.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Benjamin extended a hand, and the other boy shook it without hesitation.

"The pleasure's all mine."

"Alright guys, today we're gonna be observing the behavior of the planaria, aka flatworms." Mr. Molina introduced loudly and began his teaching. Benjamin puckered his lips excitedly, eyeing the two petri plates on the table.

Jasper pushed one plate in front of him and asked somewhat more passionately, "You like Biology?"

Benjamin looked at him and smiled radiantly, "I love biology."

"Hey, Bella, how was your morning?" Benjamin put down his tray of food and sat down next to his sister. The lunchtime at Forks High wasn't any quieter compared to their previous school in Arizona. Groups of student huddled in tables speaking loudly, cheerless cafeteria with no decor, and the worst of all: unappetizing lunch food.

But Benjamin picked up his utensils and started eating anyway, he didn't want it to go to waste.

"It was okay." Bella replied monotonically, stirring her soup with a silver spoon.

"Hey, Benjamin! You're finally here," Eric, sitting in front of the Swan boy, spoke, pointing at all the other members of the table, "This is Mike, Jessica, Angela ─"

Suddenly a boy rushed to Bella's side and kissed her cheek, causing Bella to lean toward her brother in surprise. The boy knocked down Mike's seat and ran to the exit of the cafeteria all the while shouting: "Sorry I had to mess up your game, Mike!" Mike got up with lightening speed and chased after the boy, Tyler. All the other students draw their attention to the Swan Twins' table.

"Oh my god..." said Jessica.

"That was rude." said Benjamin.

The rest of the table looked at one another, and after a second, Benjamin said, "Hi, everyone. I'm Bella's twin brother, Benjamin." Angela and Jessica both shyly waved at him.

Then, something caught Bella's eye, and she asked,"Who are they?"

Benjamin followed her gaze, realizing she was asking about the Cullens. They walked in the cafeteria, and the whole place seemed to be a lot quieter than a second ago.

"The Cullens." Angela answered, providing a bashful smile.

Jessica picked up her fork and said in a hushed tone, "They're Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They moved down here from Alaska, like, a few years ago. They're really weird."

"They kinda keep to themselves." Angela added, and seemed to be more moderate about the family than Jessica.

"Yeah, 'cause they are all together together." Jessica looked back as if to check whether there was anybody behind her to hear what she was going to say next.

"The little dark haired girl is Alice, and she's really weird. She's with Jasper, the blonde one who looks like he's in pain. They are a thing. I'm not even sure if that's legal." Benjamin turned his attention to the two, Alice was a lot shorter than Jasper and was currently humming a melody to herself. Jasper slowly spun her around like they were dancing waltz.

"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela said, only to be combated by Jessica, claiming that it was still weird because they lived under the same roof.

"Okay, the big dark haired guy's Emmett. Beside him is his sister Rosalie. All these two ever do is glare at people." Benjamin frowned at Jessica's words. Benjamin thought Emmett would've been a much more popular kid since he appeared to be a friendly and easygoing person. However, that didn't look like the case.

"And who's he?" Bella asked and gawked at the last Cullen to enter the cafeteria.

"That's Edward Cullen," Jessica explained and laughed shyly, "Totally gorgeous, obviously. But, apparently nobody here's good enough for him. Ha, like I care, you know." Edward was clutching a book in his hand and wore no expression on his face. He had bronze hair. Benjamin saw Bella stare at the Cullen with a curious glint in her eyes, and instantly knew that his sister might be falling for someone for the first time.

"They aren't weird." Benjamin retaliated, drawing the table's attention back to him, "I had Emmett in Math, Jasper and Rosalie in Biology. They were nice."

The table went completely silent. Jessica opened her mouth slightly at a loss of words. Angela coughed and was toying with her camera.

Bella sighed, sending her brother a weary look. The culprit only shrugged.


	5. Five

"Hey, Bambi!" Benjamin froze when he heard the familiar nickname shouted out from the other side of the student restaurant, the chatter that had been going around in the whole cafeteria abruptly halted.

Benjamin let out a frustrated laugh, he thought, Fuck it, and turned around while shouting back, "What, Smokey?" Beside him, Jessica gasped in surprise.

Emmett smiled at Benjamin so wide that his dimples were visible, "Want to sit with us?"

Benjamin turned back and whispered in a tone that only his sister could decipher, "Guess I'll see you when classes are over, Bella."

The Swan girl frowned, whispering back, "Where are you going?" Benjamin only gave her a solacing wink, picking up an apple on his lunch tray and heading over to the Cullen's table with the whole cafeteria's eyes focused on him.

"Hi, Everyone." he greeted, reaching for the chair next to Emmett and Alice.

Alice sat beside Jasper, and they were holding hands. She gave Benjamin a bright smile while Jasper's seemed kind of forced. Rosalie set beside Jasper. She had her arms crossed over her chest, returning a nod. Edward sat beside Emmett, no reaction.

Just as he sat down, Emmett suddenly said, "You can also sit on my lap."

Benjamin's brain stopped working for a second, and he let out an aghast laugh. He saw Emmett flirtatiously smirked, raising his eyebrows, "If that's you flirting, then you really need to work on that."

The table chuckled at Benjamin's counter, Emmett playfully ruffled his hair, even Rosalie and Edward smiled a bit.

"Hi! We haven't met yet. I'm Alice," Alice excitedly exclaimed and pointed at her brother, "and that's Edward."

Sitting in the middle of the Cullens, Benjamin couldn't believe that except Rosalie and Jasper, they weren't in the same bloodline.

They all had skin as pale as the white paint of the cafeteria walls. Even though men didn't typically wear lipstick, the Cullen boys had the same red lips as the girls. Eyes as black as the sky. Extremely attractive features. They looked like the beautiful Greek gods and goddesses sculptures came to life.

"Jeez, does being adopted by Dr. Cullen make all of you look perfect or something? You're all beautiful like you don't come from this world." Benjamin said after quickly observing the unusual beauty of the Cullens.

"Want to join the family?" Rosalie said, with a sense of pride in her frosty voice.

Rosalie didn't have any southern accent like her twin brother. Benjamin would assume Dr. Cullen adopted the twins at the same time. Did Rosalie intentionally get rid of the accent to fit in? Or, Jasper just couldn't shake it off.

Benjamin shook his head slightly, providing a warm smile, "No, being a Swan is good enough for me."

"You're from Arizona, right?" Alice asked, and Benjamin nodded, taking a bite of the apple in his hand, "Why did you move?"

Benjamin swallowed swiftly and answered, "Our mother went on a trip with her new husband, so we had to move up here with our father for some time."

Their mother remarried a minor baseball league player, Phil. They traveled a lot because of that. Bella used to go with them, and Benjamin moved to Forks. But this time around, his sister decided that she didn't want to bother the couple.

"And how do you like Forks up until now?" Emmett asked, placing his arm on the back of Benjamin's chair.

"I've always loved this town. I come and visit my dad every summer." Benjamin took another bite of his apple.

Some people would complain about how boring Forks was. A town with a depressing number of 3,000 townspeople. With only one mall, one beach, and countless acres of forest. The unbearable wet and freezing weather. But there were so many alluring things about the town to Benjamin. In the early mornings, strings of light would pass through the cloud and dense forest, causing graceful flickering shadows in the forest bed. A mist of fog would float along the fresh earthy wind, traveling through the trees, giving people a sense of suspense.

La Push beach was another wonderful place that Benjamin loved to go, just enjoying the salty wind and the calming sound of waves crushing into the sand. Sometimes when Benjamin had something on his mind that he couldn't get rid of, he would go to the beach and just sit for hours.

He couldn't quite understand the fondness he had for forks, and maybe that was why he kept coming back. Like doing Math, no matter how long it would take, Benjamin wouldn't stop until he'd found the correct answer.

Jasper smiled at him, and the Swan boy thought it wasn't as forcefully as before.

"Then how come we've never seen each other before, we moved here two years ago." Alice asked, tilting her head like a confused puppy would.

Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows, he stopped chewing for a split second, "I don't know, but I actually haven't met anyone I know in the school."

Emmett grabbed his shoulder and gave him a sideways hug, "Well, Bambi, now you know us. We should hang out sometime."

Benjamin saw the rest of the Cullens lift the corners of their mouths, agreeing on Emmett's suggestion.

The boy laughed, "Sure, Smokey."

The first day of school went by in a flash, Benjamin was stoked to see how friendly and accepting his schoolmates were. Maybe that was the magic of being the new kid in a small town, everyone wanted to get to know you and be friends.

Charlie brought Benjamin and Bella to the best burger place in the whole town to celebrate their first day of school. It was Bella's first time coming here, but it was maybe a hundredth time for Benjamin. 

Benjamin talked about his day to Charlie and Bella, interrupted by a guy creeping on their table at the diner.

"Hey, Bella, you remember me?"

It was Waylon. Charlie's friend of thirty years. Benjamin looked from the creepy old man to his dad, and found Charlie staring at his plate of salad, not greeting his friend nor having any reaction.

"Hey, Waylon." Benjamin said, trying to dissolve the awkwardness in the air. However, his suspicion only developed when the intruder didn't acknowledge his presence; instead, his eyes never traveled pass Bella.

Benjamin never liked Waylon. Charlie hadn't talked about the friend much, but when he did, it was seldom good news. Waylon never got married because he had the notorious reputation of cheating on his partners. Benjamin was not a gossipy person, but the topic went so rival a few years ago that even he heard it.

"I played Santa one year."

"Yeah, Waylon," Benjamin heard his dad say with conviction in his voice, causing Benjamin to frown, "she hasn't had a Christmas here since she was four."

"I bet I made an impression, though, didn't I." Waylon said, still looking at Bella. He arched his eyebrows and smiled. Bella politely smiled back, but didn't give a reply. She uncomfortably played with the food in her plate with a fork, sending glances to her brother, asking for comfort.

Seeing Bella's helpless state, Benjamin suddenly had goosebumps forming on his arms. Whatever Waylon was trying to do, giving Bella a friendly impression or cheering her up, it wasn't happening.

Benjamin picked up his fork and scraped it on the plate, making a sharp and short-lived but ear-piercing screeching sound.

All eyes shifted to him, Benjamin innocently apologized while silently signaling the waitress, Athena, to take Waylon away.

Athena, God bless her, was one clever woman. She immediately understood that the Swans felt uneasy because of Waylon, "Alright, let the girl eat her garden burger, Waylon."

Charlie and Benjamin smiled at her in appreciation, and continued dinning.

Back in the Swan residence, Benjamin sat on the ground, leaning his back on his sister's bed. He was studying Math, memorizing formulas for the future pop-quizzes. 

"What do you think about the Cullens?" Bella suddenly asked, not looking away from Pride and Prejudice.

He stopped working on a puzzling math question and put down his pen, focusing on his sister, sitting on her bed looking baffled, "What'd you mean?"

"You had lunch with them, were they... I don't know, nice?" Bella sighed and moved a strand of her hair behind her ear and then rubbed a corner of a page of the novel in her fingers.

Benjamin observed his sister's strange behavior, "Yeah, they were nice. What do you think about them?"

The girl looked at her brother, but she wasn't actually looking at him. She was reliving a memory and considering whether she should tell it or not.

Benjamin waited for an answer, but when his sister stayed silent for too long, he became alarmed. Putting the textbooks on the ground, he sat on the side of the bed. He placed his right hand on her leg, which was covered by the purple quilt that Charlie bought for her. 

"What's wrong?" He asked softly, lightly squeezing her leg.

Bella chewed on her bottom lip. Benjamin tapped his index finger on the bed. His sister was like an open book of nerves and clues, no matter how well she thought she was hiding her emotions or tics, there was always something not so well hidden.

"I had Biology with Edward Cullen," Bella said slowly, word by word," he glared at me for the entire class and bolted out when it was over."

She closed the novel in her hand and shoved it off her bed defensively, "And I went to see if I can take another class, he was already there. And when he couldn't, he just said he would have to endure it."

"I don't even know what I did wrong." Bella stuffed her hands into her messy hair, looking defeated.

"Do you have biology tomorrow?" Benjamin asked.

"No. But I was thinking about confronting him in the parking lot tomorrow morning."

"'Confront' him? That's a strong word." Benjamin said, just to have his sister give him a glare, "Alright, if you need some moral support, you've got me." 

Benjamin gave his best smile to his sister, who snorted and whispered a thank.

The blinds by the bedroom window swayed with the chilly night wind, Benjamin shivered due to the cold. He walked to the window and closed it. Peering out, the light from the street lamp emitted the warm, orange sensation, but when it hit the rain-washed tarred road, the only feeling Benjamin can get from it was bleak and dread. 

Picking up his belongings, he walked out of his sister's room, "Good night, Bella."

"Night, Benji."


End file.
